AHMEDABAD: Two of Gujarat's largest municipal corporations Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) have come under fire after allegations of misuse of public resources and lack of accountability emerged with regard to two separate demolitions conducted by the respective administrations.
The Surat Municipal Corporation had on May 30 conducted a demolition drive, affecting more than 100 houses in the Central Zone's Nasirnagar locality, over allegations of "encroachment on private land."
The demolition was found to have been conducted without the required authorisation, prompting the authorities to suspend five engineers involved. The action was taken after the Gujarat High Court questioned the role of the Surat police, the SMC and electricity distributor Torrent Power in the illegal demolition, which rendered several people homeless.
At the same time, the Rajkot Municipal Corporation has also come under scrutiny after civic officials submitted a Rs 27.2 lakh food bill following a three-day demolition drive in the Jungleshwar area. During the drive, conducted in February this year, approximately 1,400 structures were demolished over allegations of "encroachment."
Unauthorised demolition
While hearing a plea filed by the residents of the Nasirnagar locality, whose houses were demolished by officials of the Surat Municipal Corporation, the Gujarat HC rapped the administration and the police after being informed that the action was initiated without any formal authorisation.
"During the hearing, the Municipal Commissioner informed the court that neither he nor any officer of the corporation had issued an order authorising the demolition carried out on May 30," Advocate Zamir Saikh told TNIE.
This statement prompted serious judicial scrutiny over how such a large-scale demolition could have taken place without formal authorisation.
The court observed that if the demolition was indeed being conducted illegally under the guise of a land demarcation exercise, senior police officers present at the site "should have intervened" instead of remaining passive spectators.
Following the court's observation on the administration's lack of accountability, five officials involved in the demolition exercise and named in the petition filed by the residents, were suspended by the SMC on Wednesday.
The suspended officials include two executive engineers, one deputy engineer, one junior engineer, and one assistant engineer.
The suspensions followed the findings of a Special Investigation Committee constituted by the corporation.
Acting on the committee's report, the civic body has now formally initiated a departmental inquiry to determine responsibility and examine whether established legal procedures were violated.
Rs 27 lakh food bill
While Surat faces questions over the legality of demolition, Rajkot Municipal Corporation has found itself under fire over the cost incurred during a demolition operation, amounting to over Rs 27 lakhs.
According to details placed before the corporation's Standing Committee, officials claimed reimbursement for 150 plates of samosas, date rolls and khaman worth Rs 34,650, while the bill for tea, coffee and biscuits alone stood at Rs 6,30,946.
Records further indicate that personnel consumed approximately 21,000 cups of tea and 4,000 bottles of lemonade during the operation.
Adding to the controversy, one entry reportedly valued a single ‘Kaju Katli’ piece at Rs 231, drawing sharp public attention and raising doubts over the authenticity and reasonableness of the expenditure.
The largest component of the claim was a Rs 20.68 lakh food bill from Premvati Restaurant, taking the total expenditure to Rs 27.20 lakh.
Instead of approving the reimbursement, the Standing Committee has kept the proposal pending and sought detailed explanations from the concerned officials regarding the unusually high expenditure.
